Cross Country
For the World University Cross Country Championships Portugal promised sun, warmth and blue skies but what it actually gave us was weather more akin to “proper” English cross country with torrential rain, mud, wind and cold conditions! Sabrina Sinha (pictured below) won team silver in the mixed relay. She ran the 2km 3rd leg handing over to the last runner with GB in a comfortable 2nd position up from 3rd. Her time was the fastest 3rd leg and she took 5 seconds out of the leader from France. The team as a whole won the overall competition for the first time in the championships history.
On Saturday, at the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, in Loughborough, four Cambridge runners competed for Kent . In the senior women's race Holly Dixon led the Kent team home with a fine 6th place finish. Iris Williams was the first Kent runner in the U13 girls race, crossing the line in 14th position. Angus Vosper (U20) and Joshua Wellings (U13) both finished 68th in their respective races.
At the British Masters Cross Country Championships held over the challenging course at Somerhill School, Tonbridge, Julie Backley finished 10th overall and took silver in the W50 age group, recording 27:22 for the 6km distance. She was supported by her brother Steve a World and Olympic silver medallist in the javelin. The men raced over 8km, with Chris Loudon finishing 8th overall and 5th M35 in 30:07. Mark Penny racing in the M40 age group finished 87th (21st M40) with a time of 36:01.
Road Running
The unfortunate clash of dates with the Dartford Half Marathon did not deter over 1200 runners from completing the 32nd Paddock Wood Half Marathon. The front-end of the race was fast, with Alex Lepretre of Highgate Harriers finishing in 1:04:38, taking nearly 30 seconds off the course record. Our senior men, led home by Ben Shearer (17th place in 1:10:30), scored well for the first event of this years Kent Road Running Grand Prix and we should be in a leading position when the team and individual standings are confirmed. The best club performance of the day was by Emily Meins, who has clearly benefited from winter training, recording a personal best of 1:23:04 and achieving 117th overall place and 4th senior woman.
Other finishers: Phil Dickens (1:12:02), Luke Martin (1:18:38), Rob Shearer (1:19:16), Christian Poulton (1:20:50), Raymond Ramsay (1:21:56), Ian Miller (1:26:44), Graham Maynard (1:30:23) and Rose Baker (1:51:31).
At the Dartford Half Marathon the club had two finishers in the top 10. First across the line was David Worden in 4th position with a time of 1:16:34. He was followed five places later by Luke Ford in 1:22:01.
Other finishers: Clem Dixon (1:38:32), Paul Ford (1:51:33) and Angela Ford (2:06:08).
Indoor Track & Field
On Sunday at Lee Valley club members represented their Masters clubs at the England Masters Athletics Association Inter Area Challenge. Chris Loudon, competing for the second time over the weekend, won the M35 1500m in 4:16.21s. Mark Ashby made his indoor track debut and won the M50 2000m walk with 11:23:38s. Throwers Natalie Mann (W35) and Peter Wishart (M60) contested the shot finishing 4th (7.25m) and 5th (9.61m) respectively.